2018: The year Zomato turned unicorn and launched its farm-to-fork model

In 2018, we witnessed several important milestones for 10-year-old foodtech company Zomato. Apart from launching new programmes, the newly minted unicorn made several acquisitions and raised two rounds of funds from Ant Financials.

The foodtech company has been in business for 10 years now, but in the past year, it has diversified into areas where its competitors are yet to make inroads. Its entry into the supply chain business could be a game-changer if it succeeds. It also came under fire for the viral video of one of its delivery partners opening and eating a sealed food order, but responded swiftly by saying it was working on tamper-proof packaging.

2018 was also the year of battle between the two foodtech unicorns - Swiggy and Zomato. Both acquired startups, but what worked in Swiggy's favour was that it raised $1 billion in a single round of funding at the end of the year. It was the single-largest one-time fund-raise by a foodtech startup in India. Nevertheless, Zomato has a lot going for it, and it will be interesting to see how it builds on the foundation it has built in the coming year.